Immigration in
America
1860--1920
Big Questions
Why did people leave their
homelands to settle in the United
States during the late 19th century?
How was the culture and economics
of the United States changed by the
high influx of immigrants in the late
19th Century?
AZ Standards
65
• Strand 1: Concept 7: Emergence of the Modern
United States
– PO 1: Examine the reasons why people
emigrated from their homelands to settle in
the United States during the late 19th Century:
Push and Pull factors
– PO 2: Describe how the United States was
positively and negatively affected by factors
and events resulting from the arrival of a large
numbers of immigrants.
– PO 4: Discuss the relationship between
immigration and industrialization
Important Vocabulary for
Immigration Unit
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Immigrant
Steerage
Push Factors
Pull Factors
Ellis Island
Angel Island
Tenements
Chinese Exclusion Act
Melting pot
Assimilation
Nativist
Prejudice
65
p 66
• People who leave their country to settle in
a new country:
Immigrants
– Push factor-reasons why immigrants LEAVE
their old country
• War, famine, persecution, poverty
– Pull factor-reasons why immigrants COME to
new country
• Freedoms, job opportunity, land
Partner Work/ Steerage
66
• View the pictures of steerage
– What do you see?
• Write a fact or descriptive word about it
• Look at the White Star line poster
– What do you notice about steerage fare?
– What do you notice about the second cabin?
– What do you notice about the saloon
– What is “remittance”?
p. 66
Steerage: passage most
Immigrants used to get to America
• Cheapest fare on a ship
– Crowded
– Bottom of ship
– Not private
Push/Pull Factors
p. 67
Ellis Island, New York Harbor
P 68
• First stop for most immigrants from Europe
– Italy, Germany, Hungary
– Great Britain, Poland,
– Russia, Ireland,Norway…
• Immigrants had to go
through a “Process” to enter into
America
FLOW MAP
Angel Island
San Francisco Bay, California
• Asian Immigrants landed in the United
States through Angel Island.
– China
– Japan
– Vietnam
– Korea
– Philippines
P 69
Japanese women waiting to leave
the ship for Angel Island.
Angel Island
Chinese women
walking
at Angel Island
with umbrellas
Settling in America p 69
• Immigrants settled
where they could find jobs.
• Many found work in factories, railroads,
shipyards, and mines
• Most settled in NYC, Boston, Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh, and Chicago.
• Often they settled in neighborhoods with
similar ethnic history: “Little Italy”,
“Chinatown”.
Becoming “American”
P 70
• “Melting Pot”: America is often
described as a place where
cultures blend.
• “Assimilation”: The process of blending
into society.
– Most Immigrants were eager to “assimilate”,
by learning English.
Restrictions on Immigration
P 71
• Chinese Exclusion Act: In 1882, Congress
passed a ban on Chinese Immigration for
10 years.
• Nativist: a native-born American who
wanted to eliminate foreign influence.
• Prejudice: a negative opinion not based on
facts
• Fear for job security and prejudice led to
an upsurge in “nativist” thinking.